1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to seismic data processing and more particularly to efficient seismic data processing whereby portions of the total received seismic data are selected to provide an accurate representation of the entire set of seismic data.
2. Related Prior Art
Prior art has provided many ways to shorten processing time in the field of processing seismic data. These methods have occurred mainly in the form of data compression, where the total amount of seismic data is taken and selected bits of digital data is eliminated as inconsequential or contains nothing meaningful that cannot be surmised when the retained data is evaluated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,460, "Seismic Data Acquisition Method", (Philip W. Johnson), relates to the field locations of seismic shot points, chosen to produce partial multi-fold data. The static correction equations of this partial multi-fold data are at least partially coupled. The seismic cross sections resulting from this procedure are improved.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,074, "Computationally Efficient Weighting and Vertical Stacking Methods and Apparatus for Improving the Signal-to-Noise Ratio of Seismic Data", (Ralph E. Warmack), relates to improved methods and apparatus for vertically stacking seismic trace data collected by a digital field recorder during seismic prospecting utilizing plural initiations of a low energy surface seismic source. Seismic trace data generated by consecutive seismic source initiations and acquired at a common detector location is weighted and summed together, and the sum is normalized prior to being recorded. The signal to noise ratio of the seismic trace data is improved. The methods and apparatus by which the weighting values are calculated and applied provides computational simplifications which reduce the program storage requirements and increase the computation speed of the microcomputer circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,934, "Ground Position Controller and Method for Automatically Indicating Parameters that Spatially Cross-Reference the Locations of seismic Spread and Source Arrays During Exploration for Hydrocarbons and the Like", (H.T. Caruth, Jr.), relates to a ground position controller utilizing a microcomputer system interconnected to a digital field system (DFS) via a system bus, for generating, formatting and displaying information under a variety of shooting and collecting conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,510, "Method for Attenuating Multiples in CDP Data Gathers", (R.K. Foster, et al.), relates to a method for attenuating multiples in common depth point data whereby common depth point data is received and spike deconvolution may be performed on the data. The data is constant velocity stacked and gap deconvolution is performed. The primary stack velocity is determined and all data having a velocity other than the primary stack velocity is muted. All scans within the constant velocity stack are composited. These composites are arranged in proper order and displayed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,851, "Method for Seismic Exploration", (C.H. Savit, et al.), relates to sweeps of seismic signals consisting of pulse trains having a predetermined number of pulses. In these pulse trains the periods or durations of the pulses are randomized. In addition, the wave shape and relative time displacements of the pulses in different trains provides substantially constant spectral level over a frequency range containing several octaves.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,238, "Method for Fast Slant Stack of Seismic Data", (Michael S. Howard), relates to a method for processing seismic data in the x-t domain to derive a slant stack in the p-tau domain. Partial slant stacks are computed over a plurality of small groups of traces which are iteratively merged using linear interpolation into successively larger groups of traces to exhibit the p-tau data characteristics.